Cats and the Other Lives similar games & best alternatives

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Cats and the Other Lives

2022

Should you play it?

Part interactive fiction, part Felis domesticus adventure, “Cats and the Other Lives” explores the reunion of a broken family from the perspective of their house cat, Aspen.

What works

  • Deep and emotional story
  • Realistic and charming cat behavior
  • Beautiful pixel art and music
  • Immersive atmosphere
  • Accessible gameplay

Things to keep in mind

  • Frustrating minigame controls
  • Linear and restrictive gameplay
  • Slow pacing for some players
  • Lack of customization
  • Some bugs reported

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Forgotton Anne

  • Mercury Abbey

  • Kathy Rain

  • Gray Matter

  • The Rewinder

  • Lunar Mirror:The Pavilion of Desire

Less intimate

Games that feels like Cats and the Other Lives but with less focus on close relationships

  • Slender Threads

  • The Last Door - Collector's Edition

  • Jack Orlando: Director's Cut

  • Metaphobia

  • Nancy Drew®: Curse of Blackmoor Manor

  • Forgotten Hill Mementoes

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Cats and the Other Lives. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Cats and the Other Lives. These titles are not in What to play next.

Cats and the Other Lives: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Survival, Violence, Competition, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Intimacy. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Expression, Fellowship.

Last update: 21/08/2026